Friday, January 2, 2015

The saddest piece of news (#s 3, 4 &
5) is the Firebombing of 11 year old Ayala & her father Avner
Shapira. Because of smoke inhalation & 3rd degree burns
over most of her body Ayala is in intensive care, still sedated &
intubated, still in critical condition. Please
Pray for Ayala bat Rut.

I
received this: חיים יחיאל בן מלכה
from the Terror attack on the Synagogue needs prayers Chaim Yechiel ben
Malka

Parsha Vayehi

Although I try to start fresh my commentary each year, one thing I
repeat because of new readership. This year I added 400 potential converts to
my readership. So let me remind my older readership that everytime it is
written Vayehi there is something bad about to happen. Vayehi Yacov B’ Eretz
Mitzrayim … and the time drew near that he must die. In Megillas Ruth: Vayechi
in the days that Judges judged and there was a famine in the land. Megillas
Esther: Vayechi in the days of Achasveros…

47:28 And
Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the
years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years. 29 And the time drew
near that Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him: 'If
now I have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,
and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.

Swear to me by the holy bris Milah that you will bury me in
Chevron in the cave of the Machpelah andI have also hear the sting that if you violate this somebody else from
my seed will avenge me on you.

30 But when
I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their
burying-place.' And he said: 'I will do as thou hast said.' 31 And he said:
'Swear unto me.' And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed down upon the bed's
head.

Yosef in truth loved his father and had never taken a day off from
work since before the famine. He would ask Pharaoh when his father goes for
time off for burial. Yosef was to be the guarantor for his father’s proper
burial. We are beginning to see that more and more three tribes taking over
most of the dynamics of leadership. Yosef getting the Bechor with two
sub-tribes, Yehuda the kingship and Levy the Kahuna. The Moshiach ben Yosef and
the Moshiach ben David will culminate history in the future.

48:1 And it
came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph: 'Behold, thy father
is sick.' And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And one
told Jacob, and said: 'Behold, thy son Joseph comes unto thee.' And Israel
strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 3 And Jacob said unto Joseph: 'God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 and
said unto me: Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will
make of thee a company of peoples; and will give this land to thy seed after
thee for an everlasting possession. 5 And now thy two sons, who were born unto
thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim
and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine. 6 And thy issue, that
thou beget after them, shall be thine; they shall be called after the name of
their brethren in their inheritance. 7 And as for me, when I came from Paddan,
Rachel died unto me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some
way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath--the
same is Beth-lehem.' 8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are
these?' 9 And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons, whom God hath
given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will
bless them.' 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not
see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo,
God hath let me see thy seed also.' 12 And Joseph brought them out from between
his knees; and he fell down on his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them
both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his
left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And
Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was
the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands
wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said:
'The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath
been my shepherd all my life long unto this day,

He
purposely moved his right hand to his left and the left to the right side
placing Ephraim, the younger, above the first born Menashe.

16 the angel
who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named in
them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.' 17 And when Joseph saw that his father
was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he
held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's
head.

Yosef
thought that Yacov was making a mistake but with true prophecy there is no
mistake and Yacov guided his hands correctly.

18 And Joseph
said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy
right hand upon his head.' 19 And his father refused, and said: 'I know it, my
son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great;
howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become
a multitude of nations.' 20 And he blessed them that day, saying: 'By thee
shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' And he
set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Those
of us who bless boys Friday night say this. [Fostering a young boy has brought
me back to doing this after years of a hiatus].

21 And Israel
said unto Joseph: 'Behold, I die; but God will be with you, and bring you back
unto the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion
above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword
and with my bow.'

You
have received two tribes which came from you instead of one you are now the
Bechor instead of Reuven.

49:1 And Jacob
called unto his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell
you that which shall befall you in the end of days.

At
this point he still had the Shechina on himself and wanted to reveal the last
possible date for Moshiach. There are those that say the Keitz (End of Days) is
given hidden in Gematria in the blessing of Yehuda and those who know
understand. Yacov passed away in the year 2315 and to tell the children that
the days of Moshiach would be closer to be at least 3460 hence might bring to
the abandonment of hope so it remained hidden to most of us.

And
the first of my might: That is, his first drop [of semen], for he had never
experienced a nocturnal emission. — [from Yeb. 76a] My might: Heb. אוֹנִי, my strength, similar to: “I have found
power (אוֹן) for myself” (Hos. 12:9);“because of His
great might (אוֹנִים)” (Isa. 40:26);“and
to him who has no strength (אוֹנִים)” (ibid. 29). - [from
Targum Onkelos] Superior in rank: Heb. שְׂאֵת יֶתֶר.
You were fit to be superior over your brothers with the priesthood, an
expression of raising up the hands (נְשִׂיאוּת כַּפַיִם)
[to recite the priestly blessing]. — [from Gen. Rabbah 99:6] And superior in
power: Heb. וְיֶתֶר עָז, [i.e. superior] with
kingship, like “And He will grant strength (עֹז)
to His king” (I Sam. 2:10). - [from Gen. Rabbah 99:6]

4 Unstable as
water, have not thou the excellency; because thou went up to thy father's bed;
then defiled thou it--he went up to my couch.

[You
have] the restlessness of water: The restlessness and the haste with which you
hastened to display your anger, similar to water which hastens on its course.
Therefore you shall not have superiority: You shall no longer receive all these
superior positions that were fit for you. Now what was the restlessness that
you exhibited? The restlessness: that Name that ascended my couch. That is
the Shechinah, which was accustomed to going up on my bed. — [from Shab. 55b]
For you ascended upon your father’s couch; then you profaned: Heb. פַּחַז. This is a noun; therefore, it is accented
on the first syllable, and the entire word is vowelized with the “pattach.”
[I.e., each syllable is vowelized with a “pattach.”] If it were a [verb in]
past tense, [meaning: he was restless,] it would be vowelized פָּחַז, half with a “kamatz” and half with a “pattach,” and it would
be accented on the latter syllable (פָּחַז).
My bed: Heb. יְצוּעִי, a term denoting a
bed, because it is spread (מַצִּיעִים)
with mattresses and sheets. There are many similar occurrences:“ I shall not go
up on the bed that was spread for me (יְצוּעָי)”
(Ps. 132:3);“when I remember You on my couch (יְצוּעָי)”
(ibid. 63:7). - [from Targum Onkelos]

Reuven
did get a blessing but it was done with Mussar so one has to read through it
well. His restlessness can be turned into positive energy but he has to work on
it. We see that his tribe is so restless that they want to settle NOW on the
Golan Heights before even entering the land as we see in Devarim.

5 Simeon and
Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship.

Simeon
and Levi are brothers: [They were] of one [accord in their] plot against
Shechem and against Joseph: “So they said one to the other, ‘…So now, let us
kill him…’ ” (Gen. 37:19f). Who were “they” ? If you say [that it was] Reuben
or Judah, [that cannot be because] they did not agree to kill him. If you say
[that it was] the sons of the maidservants, [that cannot be because] their
hatred [toward him] was not [so] unmitigated [that they would want to kill
him], for it is stated: “and he was a lad [and was] with the sons of Bilhah”
(Gen. 37:2). [It could not have been] Issachar and Zebulun [because they] would
not have spoken before their older brothers. [Thus,] by necessity [we must say
that] they were Simeon and Levi, whom their father called “brothers.” - [from
Gen. Rabbah, Shitah Chadashah] Stolen instruments: This craft of murder is in
their hands wrongfully, [for] it is [part] of Esau’s blessing. It is his craft,
and you (Simeon and Levi) have stolen it from him. — [from Tanchuma Vayechi 9]
Their weapons: Heb. מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם, a term denoting
weapons. In Greek, the word for sword is“machir” (Tanchuma Vayechi 9). Another
explanation: מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם means: In the land of
their dwelling (מְגוּרָתָם) they conducted
themselves with implements of violence, like“Your dwelling place (מְכֹרֹתַי‏)
and your birthplace (וּמוֹלְדֹתַי‏)”
(Ezek. 16:3). This is Onkelos’s translation. — [from Tanchuma Vayechi 9]

6 Let my soul
not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united;
for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed oxen.

Let
my soul not enter their counsel: This is the [future] incident of Zimri [that
Jacob is referring to], when the tribe of Simeon gathered to bring the
Midianitess before Moses, and they said to him, “Is this one forbidden or
permitted? If you say she is forbidden, who permitted you to marry Jethro’s
daughter?” Let my name not be mentioned in connection with that affair.
[Therefore, the Torah depicts Zimri as] “Zimri the son of Salu, the prince of a
father’s house of the Simeonites” (Num. 25:14), but [Scripture] did not write,
“the son of Jacob.” - [from Sanh. 82a, Gen. Rabbah 99:6]

In
my opinion the part of marrying the daughter of Yisro seems a bit off from the
Pshat for the brothers in the days of Yacov married women from the area whether
good or bad and did not go like Yitzchak and Yacov before them to marry into
the family. This was healthier for the Gene Pool too. In the future from Levi
will come Moshe who will harness his energy to fight even all of Egypt and
Pinchas who will slay the Yetzer of Shimon but not united.

7 Cursed be
their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel; I will
divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

The
tribe of Levi did not get an inheritance and they were even in the Mishkan
separated into Cohanim and the three sub-divisions each on a different side of
the Mishkan. Now they are scattered throughout all of Am Yisrael.

Judah,
[as for] you, your brothers will acknowledge you: Since he reproved the first
ones (Reuben, Simeon, and Levi) with reproach, Judah began retreating backwards
[so that he (Jacob) would not reprove him for the deed involving Tamar (Gen.
38:16 ff). So Jacob called him with words of appeasement, “Judah, you are not
like them.” - [From Shitah Chadashah]

9 Judah is a
lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he
couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?

Melech
David was short and appeared crouched next to Goliard and yet he rose up to
slay him.

10 The sceptre
shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as
long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

The
scepter shall not depart from Judah: from David and thereafter. These (who bear
the scepter after the termination of the kingdom) are the exilarchs (princes)
in Babylon, who ruled over the people with a scepter, [and] who were appointed
by royal mandate. — [From Sanh. 5a]

You
have sired the seed for the Moshiach who will at the end of days redeem
Yisrael.

11 Binding his
foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washes his
garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes; 12 His eyes shall be
red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

This
refers to Chevron and the Judean Hills which is great wine country.

13 Zebulun
shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his
flank shall be upon Zidon.

This
is in Lebanon up the coast kilometers north of Nahariya and the northern tip of
Yisrael today. In the future the borders will be up to Turkey and even the port
of Tripoli in the far north shall be ours. He will finance the Torah study of
Yissachar and become rich for this.

14 Issachar is
a large-boned ass, couching down between the sheep-folds. 15 For he saw a
resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and he bowed
his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under task-work.

Issachar
is a bony donkey: Heb. חִמֹר גָרֶם, a bony donkey. He
bears the yoke of the Torah, like a strong donkey which is laden with a heavy
burden. — [From Gen. Rabbah 99: 9]

Further
on Rashi states that he will have plenty of fruit to eat and commerce and trade
to support his Torah he will not work hard but rest and learn Torah.

16 Dan shall
judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan
will avenge his people: Heb. יָדִין, will avenge his
people from the Philistines, like“When the Lord avenges (יָדִין)
His people” (Deut. 32:36). - [From Targum Onkelos]

In
the future there will be a judge who will sit on the Sanhedrin who will judge
the nations of the world for what they have done to Israel. A video type vision
from heaven will show the films of the Shoah, Inquisition, Pogroms, etc. They
will shrink in fear on “That Day” (Zechariah 14)

17 Dan shall be
a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that bites the horse's heels,
so that his rider falls backward. 18 I wait for Thy salvation, O LORD.

A
reference to Shimshon and the snake is a sign for great earning power and the
medical profession in the far future.

19 Gad, a troop
shall troop upon him; but he shall troop upon their heel.

[As for] Gad, a troop will troop forth from
him: Heb. גָּד
גְּדוּד יְגוּדֶנוּ. All [these words] are expressions of a
troop (גְּדוּד) as Menachem
(Machbereth Menachem p. 52) classified it. If you ask [why] there is no
[expression of] גְּדוּד without two“daleths,”
we answer that [indeed] the noun גְּדוּד
requires two“daleths,” for that is the rule of a word with a root of two
letters [in this case גד], to double the final
letter, but its root [remains] only two letters. Similarly, [Scripture]
says:“Like a wandering (לָנוּד) sparrow” (Prov.
26:2), which is a derivative of [the same root as]“And I was sated with
restlessness (נְדוּדִים)” (Job 7:4);“there he fell down dead (שָׁדוּד)” [lit., robbed] (Jud. 5:27), which is a
derivative of [the same root as]“that ravages (יָשׁוּד)
at noon” (Ps. 91:6). Also, יָגֻד, יְגוּדֶנּוּ,
and גְּדוּד are from the same root. When the root is
used in the יִפְעַל form (the future
tense of the קַל conjugation), it (the
final letter) is not doubled, like יָגוּד, יָנוּד,
יָרוּם, יָשׁוּד, יָשׁוּב, but when it is reflexive (מִתְפַּעֵל) or causative (מַפְעִיל),
it is doubled, like יִתְגוֹדֵד, יִתְרוֹמֵם,
יִתְבּוֹלֵל, יִתְעוֹדֵד, or causative (מַפְעִיל) , [like]“He strengthens (יְעוֹדֵד) the orphan and the widow” (ibid.
146:9);“to bring Jacob back (לְשׁוֹבֵב)
to Him” (Isa. 49:5);“restorer (מְשׁוֹבֵב)
of the paths” (ibid. 58:12). Also, יְגוּדֶּנוּ
stated here is not an expression meaning that others will cause him to do,
[because then the“daleth” would be doubled,] but it is like יָגוּד הֵימֶנּוּ, will troop forth from him, similar to“my
children have left me (יְצָאוּנִי),” (Jer. 10:20),
[which is equivalent to] יָצְאוּ מִמֶנִי,
they went forth from me. [Hence, this form is not the causative, but the simple
conjugation, which does not require the doubling of the final letter.] גָּד גְּדוּד יְגוּדֶנוּ [means]: troops will
troop forth from him-they will cross the Jordan with their brothers to war,
every armed man, until the land is conquered. And it will troop back in its tracks: All his troops will return in their tracks to the territory that
they took on the other side of the Jordan, and no one will be missing from
them. — [From Targum Yerushalmi] In its
tracks: Heb. עָקֵב. In their way and in their paths upon which they went they will
return, equivalent to“and your steps (וְעִקְבוֹתֶי‏) were not known” (Ps. 77:20), and similarly,“in the footsteps
of (בְּעִקְבֵי) the flocks” (Song of Songs 1:8); in French, traces
, [meaning] tracks or footsteps.

20 As for
Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

[As for] Gad, a troop will troop forth from
him: Heb. גָּד
גְּדוּד יְגוּדֶנוּ. All [these words] are expressions of a
troop (גְּדוּד) as Menachem
(Machbereth Menachem p. 52) classified it. If you ask [why] there is no
[expression of] גְּדוּד without two“daleths,”
we answer that [indeed] the noun גְּדוּד
requires two“daleths,” for that is the rule of a word with a root of two
letters [in this case גד], to double the final
letter, but its root [remains] only two letters. Similarly, [Scripture]
says:“Like a wandering (לָנוּד) sparrow” (Prov.
26:2), which is a derivative of [the same root as]“And I was sated with
restlessness (נְדוּדִים)” (Job 7:4);“there he fell down dead (שָׁדוּד)” [lit., robbed] (Jud. 5:27), which is a
derivative of [the same root as]“that ravages (יָשׁוּד)
at noon” (Ps. 91:6). Also, יָגֻד, יְגוּדֶנּוּ,
and גְּדוּד are from the same root. When the root is
used in the יִפְעַל form (the future
tense of the קַל conjugation), it (the
final letter) is not doubled, like יָגוּד, יָנוּד,
יָרוּם, יָשׁוּד, יָשׁוּב, but when it is reflexive (מִתְפַּעֵל) or causative (מַפְעִיל),
it is doubled, like יִתְגוֹדֵד, יִתְרוֹמֵם,
יִתְבּוֹלֵל, יִתְעוֹדֵד, or causative (מַפְעִיל) , [like]“He strengthens (יְעוֹדֵד) the orphan and the widow” (ibid.
146:9);“to bring Jacob back (לְשׁוֹבֵב)
to Him” (Isa. 49:5);“restorer (מְשׁוֹבֵב)
of the paths” (ibid. 58:12). Also, יְגוּדֶּנוּ
stated here is not an expression meaning that others will cause him to do,
[because then the“daleth” would be doubled,] but it is like יָגוּד הֵימֶנּוּ, will troop forth from him, similar to“my
children have left me (יְצָאוּנִי),” (Jer. 10:20),
[which is equivalent to] יָצְאוּ מִמֶנִי,
they went forth from me. [Hence, this form is not the causative, but the simple
conjugation, which does not require the doubling of the final letter.] גָּד גְּדוּד יְגוּדֶנוּ [means]: troops will
troop forth from him-they will cross the Jordan with their brothers to war,
every armed man, until the land is conquered. And it will troop back in its tracks: All his troops will return in their tracks to the territory that
they took on the other side of the Jordan, and no one will be missing from
them. — [From Targum Yerushalmi] In its
tracks: Heb. עָקֵב. In their way and in their paths upon which they went they will
return, equivalent to“and your steps (וְעִקְבוֹתֶי‏) were not known” (Ps. 77:20), and similarly,“in the footsteps
of (בְּעִקְבֵי) the flocks” (Song of Songs 1:8); in French, traces
, [meaning] tracks or footsteps.

21 Naphtali is
a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

In
the future he will make breakthroughs in communications and transport that will
give more time for enhanced Torah learning and Shuirim.

22 Joseph is a
fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain; its branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have dealt bitterly with him, and shot at him, and hated him; 24
But his bow abode firm, and the arms of his hands were made supple, by the
hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from thence, from the Shepherd, the Stone of
Israel,

A
reference to his brothers and the bow and being steady is a reference to
withstanding the wife of Potiphar.

25 Even by the
God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless
thee, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath,
blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. 26 The blessings of thy father are
mighty beyond the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the
head of the prince among his brethren.

The
crouching and springing up is the Moshiach ben Yosef. Yosef will in the end be
with Yehuda just as they were in Vayigash but this time Yehuda will rule but
Yosef will carry it out.

27 Benjamin is
a wolf that ravens; in the morning he devours the prey, and at even he divides
the spoil.'

Where
is the spoil divided? In the Beis HaMikdash which fell in the portion ofBenyamin.

28 All these
are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is it that their father spoke unto
them and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. 29
And he charged them, and said unto them: 'I am to be gathered unto my people;
bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the
land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite for
a possession of a burying-place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his
wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32
The field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children
of Heth.' 33 And when Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up
his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered unto his people.50:1 And Joseph
fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

As
HASHEM promised Yacov before going down to Mitzrayim.

… 12 And his
sons did unto him according as he commanded them. 13 For his sons carried him
into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah,
which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying-place, of
Ephron the Hittite, in front of Mamre. 14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, …. 22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his
father's house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23 And Joseph saw
Ephraim's children of the third generation; the children also of Machir the son
of Manasseh were born upon Joseph's knees. 24 And Joseph said unto his
brethren: 'I die; but God will surely remember you, and bring you up out of
this land unto the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.' 25
And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying: 'God will surely
remember you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.' 26 So Joseph died,
being a hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was put in a
coffin in Egypt.

This
the Torah ends the creation story from the creation of the Universe to the
Creation of Am Yisrael. But at this point we are still not a nation but with
the death of Yacov and his sons, the part of creating the nation is done and it
is now time for the nation to grown and bloom and develop.

Chazak – Chazak v’ nit Chazak

Out in the clearing one night in Viet Nam a Miracle for Phil

Back in my High
School and College Days long before Mark Zuckerberg’s Parents married, when a
person had a friend and a friend of a friend we got together and met
physically. That is how I met both Howie and Phil. I was a senior and Ron was a
junior and he asked to bring Howie to talk the Aeronautics Club that I was
president of. Howie or Howard Dyckoff was to bring me into his circle of
friends and one was a Mark Levine who may or may not be or be related to the
broadcaster and the second was Philip Harrison. Mrs. Dyckoff was very
influential on me and is one of the people who set me on my way to become Frum.
Howie was into Conferences and Meetings in Astronomy and Avionics and we got to
meet the Apollo 7 Astronauts and also Dr. Fred Whipple head of the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory and brought my research to him and got a job that
summer.

Phil was in the
process of maturing from teen to adult. His mother was domineering him so
despite his intelligence to stay in College, he signed up for the army. It did
not take long for him to be sent to Viet Nam.

One very hot night
in Viet Nam, Phil was sitting in his jeep. It was his habit to put down the
plate glass window in the front for a breath of air in the hot sweaty jungle
clearing. Well it was just too quiet that night. Phil was used to sporadic
gunfire in the distance but nothing. He could see a few meteors in the sky.
Somehow Phil sensed that something fishy was going on. He decided to go by
regulations and put up the glass on his windshield. A few moments later a shot
rang out in the dark to the area on the protective glass window in front of his
head. He could have died that night and he returned fire.

[A different story
from those days was that the Viet Cong had be given the orders to kill all the
officers. They attacked the men in the trenches until bullets had to be
reloaded and then stormed the area. Instead of bayonetting the soldiers they
ran towards the command center but the soldiers reloaded and shot the Cong
before they could kill the officer.]

When I write a lot
about miracles and when well over 15,000 perhaps many more rockets and mortars have
been fired from Gaza with so few deaths on our side that is a lot of miracles.
But there are always some that are not miracles and death is a problem. Why was
the grandson of Rav Baradani of Shass killed or the 4 Rabbis in the Synagogue
attack recently in incidents in Yerushalayim? Why did the terrorist let Shmuel
Yerucham escape? These are all part of the accounting of HASHEM Yisborach and
we don’t know why these people are chosen as sacrifices to save many in the
future what merits to die on a Kiddush HASHEM? When a miracle does not occur
there is also a Divine Reason for that too.

Mussar: Certain Jews treating
others as inferior.

My first encounter with this was as a Baal Teshuva being treated
almost as Tumay in certain Charedi circles. I was B”H welcome by the German
Jewish Community, Sephardim, Yemenites and the Litvak Yeshiva Crowds but still
it hurt a lot. A number of years ago something like 5759 I had my Tephillin
checked by David, a Yemenite Scribe. He was a scribe who also worked with Rabbi
Machpud Shlita and kosher slaughter. He wanted to repair the little detachable
part of the interior extra casing of the Tephillin Shel Yad and in the course
of time it kept slipping off. What happened he was told by the Chassidic
salesman that my Tephillin Box was not standard. David is as straight as a
ruler and I believed him not having taken quality control measurements. Well
this was not so, it was an unscrupulous salesman who wanted to sell defect
merchandise to the ‘inferior’ Yemenite Sofer. On Friday, my son noticed that
the interior box slipped off of my arm he took a look at it and said “Number
Four”. I now have a standard case that fits like a glove.

On Shabbos, I had a discussion with Rabbi Yona Gewirtz Shlita
about Kashrus. I mentioned to him about how up until the 70’s it was enough
that a good Rabbi from Washington Heights have his name on the kosher and
nobody needed Glatt Kosher. What he told me next was enough to scare any G-D
fearing person. He told me that a certain Hungarian Sect was the ones who
started the need for Glatt Kosher. They were the same group that would rely on
the OU in the days of Rabbi Beryl Wein Shlita from the OU whom he hinted about
in his book “You shall teach them diligently (or with diligence)”. They were
good at slandering others and treating all Kashrus but their own as inferior.

Rabbi Gewirtz is one of the senior Mashgichim of Rabbi Heinemann
Shlita and the Star K. Recently he or an assistant when to Brazil to check out
a new slaughterhouse. It turned out to be substandard in Kashrus that they
wanted to set up. They did not get approved. They said “Give us a break we are
just setting up.” The Rabbi replied “If a brain surgeon with a 40 to 60%
standard was ‘just setting up’ would you give him a break if you needed or a
loved one needed an operation?”

Now animals that are grain feed can get up to around a 90% Glatt
Kosher rate but animals that graze have things that they pick up like an nail
in the stomach or a kosher defect in the lungs which make them kosher but not
Glatt so their rate drops between 60 to 70% but close to Pessach a commercial
miracle happens and 95 to 97% of the animals become Glatt. IF YOU DON’T MIND
REGULAR KOSHER THEN BEEF OR LAMB CHOPS SOLD IN STORES ARE GOOD FOR YOU IF YOU
NEED GLATT GO TO THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE AFTER THE INSPECTION AND BUY IT THERE.
Otherwise eat poultry like I usually do.

The situation has become lacking at the OU Kosher standard that
these unscrupulous Hungarians are passing off as Glatt substandard regular
kosher. Why because the main Posak got Alzheimer and some good people lack
guidance. Reb Harvey Blitz and Rabbi Elephant Shlita were shocked at the report
given them and are trying to remedy the situation from the swindlers.

The Sephardim who bought “Glatt” from the same group also found
themselves with less cattle and higher prices. For Glatt according to the
Ashkenazim one needs a minimum of 5 requirements [The Rema in the Shulchan
Aruch] but for the Sephardim the Beis Yosef in the Shulchan Aruch is stricter.
It is a pity that such deception is going on by supposedly ‘G-D fearing
observant Jews’ but the superiority complex and the all-mighty dollar seems to
have made them forget the ALL MIGHTY G-D.

Disclaimer most Hungarian Frum Jews are behaving as what is
expected of them. One last thing it should be noted that not all Sephardim are
Shomer Shabbos but they respect the 613 Mitzvos and the Chacham and are more
tolerant towards each other. All go to their Orthodox Synagogue and they are
either observant or non-observant Orthodox Jews. Rachamim Pauli

One subject that I dealt with
recently on the Conversion group was the western Jewish recent breakaway sects
because the potential convert does not know the difference between Kodesh or
Chol and cannot distinguish between a path to the light or a path to oblivion.
I wrote the following information for them to check into. Let us go back into the beginnings of Reform Judaism the
roots were starting in Germany and my family must have participated in the 1848
failed socialist revolution in Europe before leaving for the States. I am
quoting the Wikipedia "However, Reform Judaism accounts for the largest
number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide. It was founded by
Rabbi Isaac M. Wise in Cincinnati, Ohio in the mid-1800s."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism

Thus
my family was one of the first Reform Jews. Prior to about that time there were
only Orthodox Judaism not Organs in the Synagogue or mixed seating and choirs.
My Orthodox side of the family started a revolution by translating Psalms
during a plague in Europe so that woman could pray in German the prayers and
certain traditions to the educated woman. However, many of the early Reform saw
the political and socialist nature as well as the break from Torah, Halacha,
Shabbos and other aspects of Judaism and made a reversal more like an
over-liberal modern Orthodox group with mixed singing lose dress code etc. I
dress not in the 1700's garments of certain Chassidim but casual like any
Israel but pray in a suit in the Israeli Charedi Community. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Judaism

In a related article there was that the number of Reform
Congregants in the States was 670,000 which equals the number of Orthodox in
the States. So the myth of them being the largest worldwide is slowly becoming
debunked.

Anyone traumatized by the rocket fire coming
from Gaza into Israel should present the UN with testimony.. This should be
done fast, because the deadline for submission is January 31st...

Submissions can just be a page or two. You
don't need to coordinate with anyone. Just do it. Since the PA – while seeing
reconciliation with Hamas - decided to join the ICC, a lesson in true
accountability is in order.

–Purposely targeting civilian population
centers is a War Crime and might be a Crime Against Humanity. http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/336923D8-A6AD-40EC-AD7B-45BF9DE73D56/0/ElementsOfCrimesEng.pdf.
The abduction and murder of teenagers is,
as well. Let’s hold the UN Commission of Inquiry in the 2014 Gaza Conflict
accountable to its mission –“to investigate all violations of international
humanitarian law and international human rights law in the occupied Palestinian
territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip,
in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014, whether
before, during or after” and hold
the Palestinians accountable for their campaign to target Israeli civilians
with terrorist activity in the name of “resistance”. The link provided
just above to the Elements of Crimes regarding the ICC‘s Rome Statute
(which the PA has just signed on to) is worth reviewing for context.

Please inform anyone you
think has testimony that should be heard to move on this quickly. Families with
children traumatized by Palestinian rocket fire, or any of the other
“resistance“ activities encouraged by the Palestinian leadership surrounding
Operation Protective Edge might want to weigh in.